Using social media safely and effectively

March 2012

keyboard typing

Social media is revolutionizing the way we communicate. More and more citizens, private companies and public institutions—including the Government of Canada—are using social media and Web 2.0 tools for workplace collaboration, to reach the public and for personal use.

Internally, federal government departments and agencies can use GCPedia, GCconnex and GCForums to share ideas and collaborate on documents by adding or editing content collectively. Within our department, we have SharePoint, the Knowledge Portal, the Service Wiki and WordPress blogs for collaboration and employee engagement. Externally, our department uses tools such as Twitter, YouTube and Facebook to communicate with Canadians for business purposes such as service delivery.

Given its widespread use, as public servants, we should be vigilant when using social media both in our personal and professional lives. Under the Respect for Democracy and Stewardship values of the HRSDC Code of Conduct, we must weigh our words carefully to avoid posting anything that could affect our effectiveness as employees or undermine the impartiality of the federal public service. Remember that online information can be taken out of context and broadly distributed, forever.

Outside working hours and during breaks at work, some of us access networking sites such as Facebook to share views, photographs and other personal information. Remember that the sites are accessible to a wider audience. Despite privacy settings, the information remains public. There are other considerations when using social media. To guide you, HRSDC employees can turn to the HRSDC Handbook for the Personal and Official Use of Social Media. This handbook offers practical tips on how we should use social media in our dealings with other colleagues and Canadians, both at work and off duty, to minimize risks, such as:

  • immediate transmission
  • loss of control of content
  • wide dissemination and broad audience
  • permanent nature of posts
  • vulnerability to alteration, misrepresentation
  • transparency of online identity (e.g. name, workplace)
  • disclosure of private or personal information

For further guidance on using social media in accordance with the HRSDC Code of Conduct, contact the Office of Values and Ethics by submitting a ticket with the Human Resources Service Centre. Our team of professionals will treat your enquiry confidentially.